Web services (also referred to as online services) are becoming very popular as more and more web sites and applications are available to consumers. Some common types of web services are email, Instant Messaging (IM), blogs, internet search engines, social networking, etc. Because of the popularity of web services, service providers are continually looking for ways to improve the quality of the web services from the point of view of the consumer. One way to improve the quality of web services is to personalize the experience of the consumer. A web service can personalize the experience of a consumer by customizing web pages that are displayed to the consumer. The web service can customize content on the web page, the layout of the web page, external links displayed on the web page, advertisements, etc. To customize the web pages, the web service builds a profile for the consumer by collecting historical data for the consumer's prior usage of the web service. The historical data may be prior search queries, links selected, time spent on a particular web page, etc. For example, if a consumer surfs the internet using a search engine such as Google search, then the search engine (e.g., Google) may build a profile for the consumer that indicates the prior searches performed by the consumer.
Unfortunately, a consumer may not have control over what data is utilized by the web service when generating customized web pages. Some data may be sensitive to the consumer, and he/she may not want web pages customized using sensitive data. For example, if a consumer searches the internet for information about a disease, the consumer may not want the search engine to display advertisements related to the disease each time the consumer performs a search. Thus, consumers may want more control over what data a web service is able to use to personalize the consumer's experience.